Freedom of delusion

 Hey, we all get it. Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.

Sometimes it's a defensive coordinator in Washington, D,C.

That would be Jack Del Rio of the Washington Commanders, who the other day posted some spectacular denial on social media. Right out loud, he wondered why Congress was making such an all-fired deal about that minor "dust-up" at the Capitol, because what about all the protestors who rioted after George Floyd was murdered by a psycho cop?

To which a lot of folks responded, "Huh?"

Also, "Jeezly crow, what a dumbass."

Also, "Um, yeah, a violent attack on the seat of American government is just a 'dust-up'. Sure. And where's your rubber room these days, Mr. Del Rio?"

Here's the thing, though: I don't recall anyone coming forward to say Del Rio's dumbassery was "hurtful," or said, "Ouch, that hurt!", or otherwise was rendered wounded and sorrowful by said dumbassery.

Commanders head coach Ron Rivera sure thought otherwise, however.

He released a statement expressing his disappointment with Del Rio's comments, then said he was fining Del Rio $100,000 for his comments that were "extremely hurtful to our great community here in the DMV." Rivera characterized those comments as wrong, and an opinion that would not be tolerated by the organization.

Now, I don't have a problem with Rivera fining Del Rio. He's his boss. He can fine him for wearing a crappy-looking tie if he wants to.

What I have a problem with is punishing him for expressing an opinion, no matter how lint-brained.

That January 6 was, as Rivera called it, an act of domestic terrorism is beyond debate now  for any rational person. The Congressional committee investigating the events of that day laid out its case fact by fact by fact the other night, and it was devastating. It made crystal that Jan. 6 was the bloody end game of an orchestrated effort by a sitting president to keep himself in power by erasing the results of a democratic election.

I don't know what else you can call that except a coup attempt. It's pretty much the very definition.

All that said, Del Rio is entitled to his delusions. He's entitled to express them. Fining him for a "wrong" opinion comes perilously close to George Orwell's groupthink.

What you do if you're Rivera, and you're smart, is you express your opinion -- "My defensive coordinator is an idiot," for example -- and let Del Rio twist in the wind. Eventually the Requisite Media Frenzy would force Del Rio to resign, or force the Commanders to fire him. 

The Commanders could then get themselves off the hook by saying they weren't firing him because of his opinions, but because they'd caused a "distraction."

Which is NFL-speak for "This guy's a pain in the ass and we just don't want him around anymore."

The right-wing victim machine would still martyr-ize Del Rio as a casualty of political correctness, and yada-yada-yada. But the Commanders would at least have some cover.

Instead, they decided to go full Orwell. A damn shame, and not terribly bright.